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Resource: Hands-On.
Published by: Group Publishing.
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Is this Sunday School curriculum affiliated with a particular denomination? Is it nondenominational? Ecumenical? A partnership among several denominations? Or what?
Group Publishing, which is an interdenominational publishing company, boasts that people of all Christian denominations use their product and services. Group is in no way connected with or subject to any particular denomination. - What are the main goals, aims, objectives, or purposes
of this curriculum resource?
The goal of this curriculum is to teach one biblical truth per lesson {or with Toddlers & 2s, only one point per month}. The goal is for students to go home with one digestible bit of God’s truth each week. Each lesson gets students interacting with their Bibles. The Bible Exploration and Application section allows students to dig into God’s Word themselves and help one another make Scripture discoveries. It uses a unique approach to Christian education called active learning. It’s learning by doing. This curriculum resource lets students experience—see, hear, touch, taste, and smell—their lesson. It provides opportunities for them to talk about what happened, how they felt, and how those actions and feeling reflect the lesson’s main point. It is a learner-centered curriculum. It shifts the spotlight from the teacher to the students. The teacher is not expected to be the answer. Rather, the teacher is a guide, helping students discover God’s truths through classroom activities and personal sharing. The lessons and methods of teaching are based on development skills {physical development, emotional development, social development, mental development, and spiritual development} of different ages of the learners. - What is the main content of this Sunday School
curriculum? (for example, Bible
stories, books of the Bible, theological questions, Bible and life issues,
denominational identity, etc.)
This curriculum is based on Bible stories. Once the teacher has the attention of the children, the lesson focuses on the Bible story followed with theological questions and discussion that relate to everyday life. It emphasizes the physical application rather than the intellectual knowledge. - How is the curriculum organized?
(for example organized around the common lectionary, the Uniform
Lesson series of Biblical texts, topics, themes, etc.)
It is a curriculum for a whole year (4 quarters) Sunday school class. The classes are not uniform around one passage but are organized around a topic for each grade. The curriculum is on a 3-year cycle. - What age levels are included in this curriculum, and
how are they grouped? (for
example, grades 1-3 together)
Toddlers & 2s, Preschool: 3s & 4s, Pre-K & K: 5s & 6s, Grades 1& 2, Grades 3 & 4, and Grades 5 & 6. - What is the structure of a typical lesson and what
kind of learning activities are generally included? (for example, a lesson might be structured around Opening,
Presentation, Exploration, Response, Closing.
Learning activities might emphasize reading, workbooks, and
discussion)
The material is aimed for 35-60 minute lessons but also includes bonus ideas if you have extra time. Each class is structured as follows: Welcome (5 minutes) Attention grabber (10-15 minutes) Bible exploration and application (15-30 minutes) Closing (5-10 minutes) The class is full of short activities to meet the children’s attention span. - When you purchase this Sunday School curriculum, what
do you get? (for example,
teacher guide, learner books, packet of class resources, etc.)
Each item is purchased separately. For each grade there is a teachers guide which contains the lesson plans and reproducible handouts ($19.99) and a learning lab which includes all the gimmicks for the lesson ($49.99). There is also a “Big Bible Book” for each story ($14.99) and puppet ($24.99-34.99) available for the younger children. This series also offers a Director’s Manual ($15.99) and a teacher training video “Making the Bible Easy to Teach” ($14.99). - How much does it cost?
See the response to the previous question. - What theological tradition, perspective, or
orientation do you note in this material?
The curriculum believes the Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God. The curriculum believes there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The curriculum believes in the deity of Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return. The curriculum is conservative and evangelical in its theology. It does not use inclusive language. It is family oriented with the whole family worshipping Jesus. - Over all, what is your assessment of the strengths
and weaknesses of this Sunday School curriculum?
Strengths: Exciting, easy-to-prepare lessons using a teacher’s guide that is designed for teachers with little time. Holds the hands of the teacher including what the teacher should say and including the prayer to use at the close of the class. Learning lab has most of the materials you will need that would not be considered standard supplies in a classroom. Lots of activities to keep children from getting distracted. Reproducible take-home papers, including a letter to inform parents of what the topic is for the next few weeks and activities to help parents reinforce at home what the children have learned at Sunday School. Simple language that is easy for young children. Options that let the teacher quickly and easily customize each lesson for her/his class. Clear instructions of how to use this curriculum. Weaknesses: Still uses exclusive language when it comes to referring to God. There is the potential for the activities to dominate the lesson rather than applying the Bible lesson to life. Focusing on the puppet or the gimmicks in the lab rather then stressing the point of the lesson. For some classes with a limited amount of time, the students could spent the same amount of time on the attention grabber as they do on the Bible exploration and application. Activities are focused more on the fun rather than the learning so some teachers may not be able to get across the one point the students are to learn for the week. Teachers who are not comfortable in talking about their faith may not be able to get the key point across. Items in the learning lab are cheap plastic or paper.
